Pokemon: Onyx Bonds
by Miruki-Mimiko
Summary: Three young teens with shadows over their pasts set out into the world with their pokemon, their partners and best friends. The three meet and become friends in order to overcome their dark pasts.     More info in first chapter. Centered around OCs.
1. Chapter 1

_Yo! It's Mimiko again, with yet another new idea! This time it's Pokemon~ It was going to be a crossover I had thought up, but I decided to do this instead. I've had this idea for a while, and figured it was about time for me to get started on this concept! Wewt~ So anyway, here's the start of my newest fanfic~ Pokemon: Onyx Bonds! First, a little info~!_

**Background: **Annabelle Moore, a sixteen-year-old young girl with the dream of being a Coordinator, has been out on her journey across the regions for over four years now, and recently arrived in the Hoenn region. Working together with the Buneary she gained on her sixth birthday, not long after the passing of her mother, she dreams to be a great and well-known coordinator. Little does she know, as she enters the Hoenn region, that she will meet two troubled souls with pasts even more dark than hers, and until then, have been getting through only with the help of their pokemon. One is Haku, a Breeder with the ability to speak to pokemon, and a lonely and distant spirit, traveling with an Absol that saved him when he was little, and a team of pokemon with the utmost trust in him. The other is Shin, a Team Rocket runaway that, until now, has been raised by Team Rocket, followed by a group of mostly fire-type pokemon that are his best friends. As the group ventures through the Hoenn region they meet, form bonds, and help each other overcome the darkness of their pasts through their strong bonds as friends and kindred spirits.

Three young teens with shadows over their pasts set out into the world with their pokemon, their partners and best friends. The three meet and become friends in order to overcome their dark pasts.

**Romance: **Being considered. If you'd like any of the boys to wind up with Anna once the interaction starts, let me know ;3

**Rated: **T to be safe

_~ The Sinnoh Region: Outside Hearthome City_

A small girl was standing with her father in the graveyard while a crowd dressed all in back was starting to gather. She was young, no older than five, wearing a small black dress. Her sapphire blue eyes were filled with tears, and she was tugging at the sleeve of her father's black suit. "D-daddy! Why are they putting mommy in the ground?" When her father wouldn't answer her, even more tears filled her eyes, and her sniffling began to turn into crying, and soon became all-out crying, as the small girl, no longer caring for keeping her dress clean, sat down at her fathers feet and began bawling her eyes out.

As the girl was young, she didn't really have a clue about what was going on. She didn't understand that her mother had died. As such, she certainly didn't understand that the reason they had "put her in the ground" was to bury her, never to be pulled out again. She had been told that her "mommy" was just sleeping. That she was really somewhere else, which the little girl had obviously taken as saying that she was dreaming, and would wake up again. The poor little thing wouldn't figure out until later that her mommy wouldn't come back to her, that she and her daddy would be left alone for a long time, possibly forever.

Her father, a tall, strongly-built man with short hair and a bit of a scruffy beard, pulled his little girl into his arms, scooping her up to hold her. The rough-looking man was very gentle with his small daughter, patting her on the head and wiping away her tears. Though he did, the small girl kept crying, and he simply held her, rubbing her back and patting her head, letting her get her tears out for now. He looked protectively down at his little girl, his little princess, who was crying her little eyes out, not knowing what was happening and why her mommy was being buried. He wasn't going to let her be so upset again.

The little girl had calmed down considerably by the end of the funeral service (though she didn't know it was a funeral at the time), and had reverted back to simply sniffles. She was standing by her father again, hugging onto one of his legs. People were coming up patting her on the head, saying things like "It's a shame she lost her mother being so small" and "Don't worry, you're mommy's in a nice place". She didn't understand what was going on at the time, but she would in time. "Daddy, when are they going to get mommy out of the ground?" the little girl asked, tugging at her father's pants leg with big, teary blue eyes.

Her father gave a light sigh, bending down on one knee so that he was eye-to-eye with his five-year-old daughter. "Anna, listen to daddy closely, alright?" he asked of her, getting a teary-eyed little nod in response, "Good girl. Anna… they're not going to get mommy out of the ground. She'll be sleeping for a very long time, okay? She's in a very nice place though, so there's no need to cry for her, alright?" Of course, it was hard for him to break this news to his normally cheerful little girl. If he didn't though, she would just sit there crying for the men to get her mommy out of the ground, when they couldn't. "Daddy likes it best when his little princess is cheerful, okay?"

The little girl looked up at her father with watery eyes again. Though he said that, the little girl started crying again, and wrapped her arms around her father's neck. "B-but daddy… I want to see mommy again!" she sniffled, rubbing her teary little eyes on a handkerchief that her father gave her. Her father patted her on the head as she sniffled and cried, standing by his wife's grave as he did so. The little girl eventually cried herself to sleep, cuddling up to her father in her sleep and sniffling still. "Mommy… mommy," she could be heard muttering in her sleep, tossing and turning. It would take some time for the little girl to get over it. Of course, she was only five, so it would naturally be hard on her.

-_~ Three weeks later, the Moore Household, Hearthome City_

Little Annabelle Moore woke up, three week later, cuddling one of her pokemon plushies, curled up in her bed at her home in Hearthome City. She was sniffling, tossing and turning in her bed. She was having a dream, about her mom. Her long, black hair was all messy, and her eyes were a little puffy, having tossed and turned and sniffled and cried. It wasn't even a month after her mother's death, and yet it was little formerly-five-year-old Annabelle's sixth birthday. She shouldn't have been sniffling, tossing and turning in bed, squeezing a pokemon plush for dear life.

Her father cracked the door open, seeing his little girl in such a state. He sighed and walked in, gently closing the door. He smiled gently as he leaned over the bed, patting the little girl on her head. Hopefully, her present this year would cheer her up, though he knew it could never replace her mother. Still, his smile broke into an all-out grin, as he picked the little girl up off her bed playfully, chuckling has he heard a little surprised squeak come from her as she was lifted out form under her covers. "Anna, do you know what today is, princess?" he asked, patting her on the head.

The little girl seemed to have a cute, playful, "thinking face" for a few minutes. Then, however, she let out an excited little squeak. "It's my sixth birthday today!" she yelped out, excitedly. Her father loved it when she giggled and smiled like that, since she looked exactly like her mother. She was one of the most cheerful little girls he knew in Hearthome. "Daddy, daddy, daddy! Do I get a present again this year!" she asked, tugging at the shirt her father was wearing.

"Of course you get a present!" he said, patting her on the head, "You're daddy's little girl! Ah, six years old, already! You're getting to be such a big girl!" He smiled a little as the little girl seemed to be in high spirits, grinning and giggling. "Now, if my little girl wants to see her present, she needs to get dressed and brush her hair so she can look her cutest today! Once you get your present, daddy will take you out for breakfast, okay?" He smiled at her, as the little girl just nodded and went off to get ready for the first birthday she would spend with her family only comprising of herself and her daddy.

Once the little girl had cleaned herself up, slipped into one of her baby blue dresses, a pair of white stockings, and her favorite pair of baby blue maryjanes, her father brushed her hair for her, putting it up in her favorite pink ribbon. She giggled and did a little twirl for her father, getting small claps and laughter in response, as her father picked her up, giving his little princess a bear hug. "Are you ready to see your present, now?" he asked, patting her head. He knew she would like it, and got a nod in reply as he had expected. "Good, come downstairs with me. I think you'll like it," he said. He grinned, leading his little girl down the stairs, holding her tiny little hand delicately, as if she really were a little princess. He couldn't help but grin at his daughter's reaction. It had worked out exactly how he had hoped it was, Anna was delighted.

Sitting on the floor in their living room was a Buneary. A small, brown-colored rabbit-like pokemon, which looked like one of its ears was scrunched up at the top of its head. There was cream-colored fluff on the tip of each ear, and at the bottom of its body, and it had cream-colored feet. It looked like any Buneary would, and it looked up at Anna and her father with a big grin. "Bun, bun, Buneary!" It seemed excited, and was hopping up and let out a little squeak of excitement. She ran up to the Buneary and hugged it, and it seemed rather excited to be hugged. They seemed to be getting along well, friends right off the bat. The little six-year-old just sit there and played with her new pokemon, her new friend, for a few minutes. "Waaaaiii~ It's so cute, daddy! Did you catch it for me?"

"In a sense," her father said, patting her on the head, "I found it a long time ago, injured. We took care of it for a while, but never actually caught it. It came up to me a few days ago, and I decided it would be the perfect friend for you, so I let you two meet on your birthday. Is it a nice present?" He smiled a little as the little six-year-old let another little excited squeak out and nodded. He kneeled down beside her, pulling an empty pokeball out of his pocket and handing it to the little girl, placing it lightly in her tiny palm. "Do you want to catch it?" he asked, and the little girl beamed. She looked down at the Buneary and held out both of her hands, with the pokeball clasped tightly in them. "Buneary," she said in her cute little six-year-old voice, "do you want to be my friend from now on?" She giggle a little as the Buneary jumped up and down, pawing at her hands a little as if telling her 'yes'. She hopped back on one foot, which her father thought was absolutely adorable, and tossed the pokeball gently with both hands towards the Buneary, who tapped its head on the ball and was surrounded by a beam of light, before becoming part of the light itself and being brought into the pokeball. Anna and her father watched as it shook back and forth for a moment, before clicking shut. Anna grinned and picked up the pokeball. "Alright!" she said with a little, doing a little twirl and throwing the pokeball in the air with both hands. "Buneary, come on and join me and daddy for my birthday!"That would be the first and last time Annabelle Moore's Buneary ever went into its pokeball.

_~Several years later - Hearthome City, outside the Moore residence_

"Anna, sweetheart, are you sure you want to start _now_?" Annabelle's father was standing outside, watching as his now twelve-year-old daughter got ready to leave for who knew how long. "It's your twelfth birthday, why not spend it with your daddy, hm?"

Annabelle, who, though now she was twelve, did not have much of a different fashion sense from the time she was six, giggled. "It's fine, daddy!" she said, getting up on her tip-toes to give her father a small kiss on the cheek, "I'm not a little girl anymore! Besides, I spent time with you today! It's almost two o'clock!" She giggled a little as her father seemed embarrassed. "You can't hold on to your little princess forever, you know. Buneary and I are going to go make even more friends, and I'm going to be just as well-known a coordinator as mommy was! Isn't that right, Buneary?" "Bun!" the little rabbit-like pokemon exclaimed, bouncing up and down, and then into Anna's arms. "I suppose you're right," her father said with a sigh, "I don't want to admit it, but my little princess is old enough to start adventuring with pokemon now, isn't she? Well, be sure to at least come back and visit often, alright, princess?""I promise, daddy!" She said with a giggle, giving her father a hug around the neck and a kiss on the cheek, "I'll always be my daddy's little princess, after all. I love you!~""I love you too," her father said, "Be safe and have fun.""I will, daddy!" she said with a giggle. She checked over everything she packed, giving a small nod. "Are you ready to go, Buneary? We're going to meet lots of new friends, right!"

"Neary!" the little pokemon said, seeming excited.

Annabelle giggled a little and pat Buneary on the head. As she straightened out her baby blue dress, draping her small pink bag over one shoulder, she gave a small smile to her father. "Don't worry, I'll be fine daddy. I'll come visit lots, and let you meet all the cute pokemon I catch!" She gave her father one last goodbye hug and kiss on the cheek before heading off with Buneary. "Come on, Buneary! Let's go make some new friends, then you and me will be on the road to stardom on the Coordinating stage!"

"Buneary!"

-_And that was the first chapter! It might have been a little short, but these first three chapters are all for introducing our three main protagonists: Anna, Haku, and Shin. This was Annabelle Moore's introductory chapter, which you'll see lots of references to later on in the story! R&R, and I hope you enjoyed! Next chapter, we meet the second in our party of protagonists: Haku Suzuki~ Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and those of you that stick around will enjoy the next! ^^ Keep in mind as you read on: Anna's past is the lightest of all. Next two chapters introduce the other protagonists' pasts, and afterwards it'll lighten up, so don't worry~_


	2. Chapter 2

_Yo! Mimiko again~ Time for the next chapter of Pokemon: Onyx Bonds. These first three chapters are pretty much all character intro, like I said in the previous chapter. They'll get updated rather quickly, but I'm not sure how regular I'll be with the rest of this, it depends on how popular it gets. So anyway, on to the second chapter! In this chapter, you will be introduced to Haku Suzuki!~_

_~A small mountainside town in Hoenn_

In a small town built into a mountainside, it was the beginning of another day. Children were out playing, and the adults were out doing whatever they had to in order to get by. In this town, training, coordinating, breeding, anything frivolous like that was unheard of. Everyone born there lived there, worked there, settled down there, and stayed there for most of their lives. It was so out of the way, no Trainers or other travelers even bothered to find their way there. Everyone there was happy; no one dreamed of anything more. No one, that was, except for one small boy. While all the other children played with each other, or walked along the sides of their shopping mothers and fathers, one was left alone. He didn't talk to or play with the other children. This little nine-year-old had been wanting to leave the town since he was little. He wanted to be able to travel together with pokemon and be friends with them. To raise them and work together with them. Why was this one little boy so drastically different from others? He had an ability no one else had, the ability to speak with pokemon. With this ability, he befriended pokemon easily, and grew even more inseparable bonds than most did. He wanted to use this ability to befriend and raise many pokemon, and travel outside that small town. It was a large dream for a nine-year-old, and one that most people in the town thought, or hoped, he would outgrow. He wasn't paid much attention.

Perhaps that was how this small nine-year-old managed to sneak out of town so often, and climb his way up the treacherous mountainside. Why did he go there? Well, he went there because his _real_ friends lived on the mountainside, pokemon. He spent more time with the mountain pokemon than he did with the humans that lived in his own town. A lot of people found it strange that this small boy would have conversations with any mountain pokemon that wandered into the town, but that was the way he was. He found more camaraderie among pokemon than humans, they actually listened to him, and played with him, which was more than he could say for most humans in his town. Even a small family of three Absols that lived high in the mountain, some ways from the town, took it upon themselves to shelter the small human that often climbed the treacherous slopes to pay them and other mountain pokemon regular visits, for the past three years or so. They had gotten attached, just like the other pokemon, to this bright young boy.

The child in question was currently walking through town streets with his parents, his mother clasping tightly at his hands. The tiny little brunette's mother knew about his tendency to disappear, and didn't want him running off. He was only nine after all, the area around the town was dangerous. Her son didn't need to keep running off. Honestly, she would have preferred it if he would just play with the other children and stop going off to play with pokemon in the mountains. There were plenty of pokemon in town, even, if he really insisted on playing with them. Tamed, domestic pokemon that stayed in and nearby houses, not the dangerous, wild pokemon that wandered around the mountains. Still, she just didn't understand that her small son had dreams and ideals outside the small town. It was outside of anyone's thoughts, they thought he was simply a troublesome little boy that liked to disappear into the mountains to play with pokemon, all because of that strange ability he had to communicate with them.

Still, the small brunette tailed behind his mother, though he didn't want to. He kept glancing towards the edge of town, where the climb up the mountain began. He could see some of the mountain pokemon, already. Tailow and other small bird pokemon that made nests in the mountains were flying overhead. The little boy wanted to go after them and play in the mountains, but his mother had a firm hold on his wrist. He wasn't going to be going anywhere, any time soon. So, he trudged along slowly behind his mom, not really minding where he was going much. His mom made sure he didn't run into anyone or anything, anyway. He would have to wait until later in the day to go play, it seemed.

_~ Several hours later, in the mountainside_

The small boy was trekking up the mountainside, playing with some wild pokemon that knew him along the way. Since he was small, he managed to worm his way past several of the natural dangers of the mountains. Others, he got by simply by knowing his way around the mountainside as if it was his own back yard, which it practically was. He spent more time there than anywhere else, after all. As he worked his way up, he stopped to have conversations with some of the mountain pokemon. Several of them, though, would say things like _"A little human like you shouldn't be coming up here"_, _"Isn't this place dangerous for you?"_, and _"You should be careful climbing so high up."_

After a while of climbing, the little brunette decided to take a rest, sitting on one of the large rocks nearby. This was fun for him, spending time in the mountains. He smiled a little as some of the pokemon walked up to him to chat or play. To him, playing with them was more fun than playing with any human kid his age could ever be. However, even though he was having fun, the child kept glancing around the group of pokemon that were playing with him. He was looking for a specific one, well, three, that lived there. He was pretty sure he was close enough to the top to be near their home, too. Well, they didn't always come.

Right as he got back to playing with the pokemon, a small pack of three Absols came walking up to him. He continued to play, but grinned at the Absols as they woke up. "Hello! I'm here to play with you again, today!" He could tell by the looks on their faces that the older, bigger Absols were worried about him coming up there, like the other pokemon. The smaller one, however, simply came up to him and barked greetings. "Hey there, Absol!" he said with a smile.

"_Haku! It's good to see you again, let's play!" _the Absol barked._ "Little one, get back here," _one of the elder Absols, a male by his bark, said, reigning in the young one. _"Little human, Haku, we came here today to warn you, not to play. We've sensed a large-scale disaster that will be coming soon. Flee that town, go where it's safe."_

"_Try to take as many other humans as you can with you,"_ the other elder, a female, said.

Haku looked up at them, a little worried. He knew of the Absols' abilities to sense oncoming disasters. Because of this, and the way they always tried to warn people, people always mistook them as pokemon of misfortune. He gave a small nod. "I'll be able to come back and play again, right?"

"_Once the problem has settled itself, we would be happy to see you again, little Haku,"_ the female replied.

"I'll do my best to warn everyone, then!" Haku said, heading off and clamoring down the mountain. He had to let everyone know, even if they didn't believe him. It was the right thing to do.

_~ A few days later_

Haku couldn't take it anymore. He tried to tell everyone of the Absols' warning. However, either no one believed him, or they didn't want to leave the town. Mostly, it was the former. He sat alone in the town streets again, looking up towards the peak of the mountains. What exactly was this disaster that the Absols had warned him about, anyway? He would have imagined they'd have given him more details. Well… if no one believed him, he should leave, himself. It had already been a few days, that disaster was probably coming soon. Right as he was about to get up, the ground started shaking, and he looked back up to the mountain. Everyone was rushing around in shock and terror, and no one knew what to do. A few people were saying to him how his "Absol friends were the ones that brought this catastrophe about". It wasn't until a few moments later, being pushed aside as others tried to escape, that he figured out what was going on by one of the town's guards.

"_Landslide!_ Everyone, get out of here quickly!"

There was a rush, and terror. No one knew what was going on, and everyone was stepping over each other in the rush to get out. It was chaos, and no one seemed to be getting anywhere. No one could calm these people down. No one could direct them calmly to get out. It seemed like no one was making any progress in evacuating. The landslide was growing ever nearer, and it was so chaotic, it was as if no one was moving! Little nine-year-old Haku tried to take command, but no one would listen to him. So, he resorted to picking his way through the crowd, trying to get out.

However, as much as anyone tried, no one managed to claw their way out of the chaos. People didn't have the time, and trying to rush their way to safety, were trampling others, or getting caught in the chaos. It was definitely an A-1 catastrophe, that was for sure. The small nine-year-old tried to worm his way out of the chaos to no avail. Protective parents and tight space made it hard for him to. It lasted all of ten minutes, and at the end of it, no one was left standing. The entire city had been submerged under mud and dirt and rock, and only one person was hanging on, halfway out of the city, half-submerged in mud and on the verge of death himself. Haku, the little nine-year-old-boy, who had hung around to warn everyone, was about to become a victim of the very tragedy he'd tried to avoid.

However, there seemed to be a small bit of hope for this boy. As he was on the brink of dying, one of the pokemon he always played with on the mountain appeared. An Absol. The doglike pokemon saw his daily playmate in danger, and decided to dig the small human out of the muck and crushing dirt from the landslide. Haku looked up at the pokemon, smiling at it before falling unconscious from damage taken in the landslide.

_~ Several hours later_

The small brunette woke up at the foot of the mountain his home town had once been settled in. No longer in familiar territory, he couldn't help but panic, trying to look around for familiar landmarks. It was only when he noticed the Absol curled up, sleeping beside him when the small boy remembered what had happened. Stroking the Absol on the head, he looked back up the mountain, wanting to adventure up to the mountain again to see if anyone had survived (nine-year-old naivety being what it was). It was about this time that the Absol awoke and looked up at him. _'There was no one else to save, Haku,'_ he told Haku, knowing what his favorite human playmate (well, his only human playmate) was thinking, _'You were the only one.' _To comfort the poor, young human boy, the Absol altered his position so that his forepaws rested in the boys lap, allowing him to rest his head there. _'I'll be here for you, Haku. Don't worry, alright?'_ He stretched his head upward slightly in order to give the small human a lick on the cheek before nuzzling his head in his paws again. _'I won't let anyone harm you, I promise.'_

_~ Several more hours later_

Well, it had been a bit of a long shot, but Shadow (as was the name the young human had given him) had (somehow) managed to convince the other Absol in the mountain to look after Haku until his twelfth birthday. The Absol walked up to the small boy and circled around him protectively, looking up. _'It was a stretch, but I managed to convince them,'_ he said in his own language to Haku, _'Until your twelfth birthday, the human right of passage, you can stay on the mountain. The Absols of the mountain will protect you to the best of our ability…'_

When Haku gave a small shake of his head, the Absol looked up at his human friend inquisitively. "Shadow, I don't wanna stay here. I'm happy the Absols are willing to take me in, and I wish I could stay and play with them, but it's time for me to leave. We can go together, though, huh? You can come with me!"

'_Come with you… where?'_ was the only reply Shadow could think of to bark back to the little human, glancing up at his friend with question and worry. The small boy had always been separated from other humans, but if he was going to keep from being cared for by the pokemon as well, the ones who had always cared for him, what else could there be?

"I… dunno yet," the boy replied, "Just… come with me. Go somewhere that's not here… I'd rather not stick around." He glanced upward towards the mountain where his home used to be. The Absols were there, but there was no village. Even if he didn't get paid much attention, without his village, without his mama and papa, there was no reason to stick around. "We can go on an adventure! I'll just be starting earlier than most kids is all… it's just a three-year difference. Besides, with you to take care of me, I'll be just fine!"

The Absol was completely shocked by the boy's decision. Here was Haku, only nine years old (that was young by human standards), and he was making such a mature decision. Go out alone, without his parents, at this age? Three years was a lot of time by human standards, and yet here the boy was so confident in himself. Not only that, but confident in Shadow's ability to protect him.

'_It will be dangerous…'_

"I know that, Shadow! That's why I have you with me!"

Who was he to argue with that logic? Besides, Haku had always been stubborn once he decided on something. _'Very well, you're not turning around anyway. I know you…'_ The Absol circled the small human protectively again and glanced upwards. _'I'll inform the other Absols and see what useful items I can dig up from the landslide wreckage. You wait here, alright?'_

"Will do!" the boy said, sitting on a nearby rock and glancing up at the mountain as Shadow ran off to prepare the boy for their departure. -

~_ Not long after_

Haku had been waiting all of a few minutes before Shadow came back down the mountain, carrying a small, dirty, torn (well, it _had_ been in a landslide), black backpack in his mouth with him. He set it down in front of Haku and looked up, questioningly. _'Are you sure you want to do this?'_ he asked.

"I'm sure," Haku said, taking the bag and looking through it. So all Shadow had managed was the bag itself, and a few empty pokeballs (three to be exactly, and Haku knew they'd come in handy). Well, that was all they really needed. Having Shadow with him, he'd find plenty of food just about anywhere. He didn't need anything to sleep with, he was fine on his own (he'd spent entire nights up in the mountains with the Absols before when he'd gotten in bad fights with his parents, happened frequently for him only being nine). Yes, this was all they should need for a while. Everything else, they'd come across when they needed it. "Ready, Shadow?" he asked, pulling one of the three pokeballs out of his bag. Shadow, Haku knew, would go alongside him no matter what. He simply looked at the boy and circled around him protectively. _'Whenever you are, Haku,'_ was his only reply. He only stood there, allowing the boy before him to throw the ball towards him gently towards him in order to catch him in the pokeball, only to be released a moment later and automatically move to the boy's side. _'I'm your pokemon from now on, hm? I'll be sure to protect you.'_

"You're not 'my pokemon', Shadow, you're my friend!" Haku replied with a pout, "The pokeball thing is just for formality…" He didn't know why, but the statement he made seemed to make the Absol bark a small laugh. He wasn't quite sure, but whatever the reason, it didn't matter. "Just… stay with me from now on, ne?"

'_Definitely.'_

-_~ Three years later (Haku, twelve years old)_

Haku was sitting under a tree near the outskirts of Lillycove City (because he didn't dare go _into_ the city. Too many people) with a book. It was break time for him and his pokemon, and honestly he didn't feel like traveling much that day. So, most of the day had been lazy. Shadow, his Absol, had his head rested in the twelve-year-old's lap contentedly, napping while his friend read. The other pokemon Haku had at the time, a Poocheyenna and Ralts (both male), were playing nearby. Lazy days like this were always the times the young breeder enjoyed most. Simply quality time with his pokemon. Shadow winked one eye open and looked up at his young master, keeping his head in Haku's lap. _'We're not going to be going anywhere today, are we?'_ he asked. "Nope, nowhere. Do you have any qualms with that?"_'Not really.'_"I didn't think so." The boy gave a small smile and reached down to stroke Shadow on the head, getting a small lick on his hand in response. "These days are the best ones after all. The days we can spend alone without any disturbance."_'Though, are you sure you want to separate yourself from your own kind this way?'_

"I prefer being solitary," Haku replied, going back to his book, "Besides, I like pokemon more than people. You're the only ones that talk to me, and nurturing and raising pokemon has become my passion. Kind of like yours is protecting me."_'Point taken. Though, you can't live this solitary life forever, you know.'_

"We'll see about that," was his only response, closing the book, "Even if I can't stay solitary forever, I'm going to stay this way as long as I can." Little did he know that a few years down the road, when he was seventeen, his solitude would be broken.

… _Wow that went longer than expected. Well, I hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. I can't help but feel the landslide was a little rushed, but… well… we'll see how it turns out. R&R please, I'd like to have your thoughts! Anyway, next is Shin's backstory, then we can get into the fun part: the STORY! Yay~ _


End file.
